COMMUNITY THROUGH FOOD

Community through Food

            In a recent interview, noted chef and fresh food advocate Alice Waters, decried the continued statistic that 80% of families in America no longer share family meals. The loss is not only good nutrition, but also the real human connections we need as we share a meal.

            The value of community connections through food is amply demonstrated by local food pantries and soup kitchens for those in need. But these connections are also strengthened by each potluck and every celebration with family and friends, all of which involve food. As food is shared, so are recipes and personal stories involving memories and hopes for the future. Such sharing strengthens connections and the bonds of community.

            The home cook also discovers through the years a personal community through food. The shared recipes and ingredients of the past and present continue to connect you to others as you prepare another meal. I was recently reminded of this, sitting down to a simple supper on a Monday night. After a weekend of indulgences we had corn chowder, bread and a desert and yet each had a tale to tell.

            It actually started the previous week when Ken, a fellow choir member at Nativity Lutheran church in Rockport, presented me with a bag of Ancho Chiles from his garden. These sweet, semi hot thin pepper strips were delicious raw in a humus and smoked turkey roll-up sandwich. Some of them were roasted for other purposes, but part of one found it’s way in the corn chowder.

            The corn chowder started out as an attempt to replicate a delicious offering from our neighbor Luisa last winter. Unfortunately, I was missing a few of the ingredients, but improvisation still made a very good and hearty soup.

                                                Monday’s corn chowder

            In a 3 quart pot fry 1 ½ slices of thick bacon to crisp and drain on paper towels. Sauté 1 large chopped onion with 1 ½ stalks chopped celery in the bacon drippings for 5 minutes, stir in 2 chopped garlic cloves and continue to cook for another minute. Blend in 2 generous Tbls. flour, and when incorporated add 2 cups water with constant stirring to make a thickened sauce. Then add: 2 cups chicken broth, 2 red potatoes (unpeeled and cut to bite size), 1 large carrot cut in half and sliced, ½ seeded diced red pepper, 1/3 seeded and diced Ancho chile (optional) and 5 pickled jalapeňo slices minced, 1 tsp.salt. Bring to boil and continue cooking for 15 minutes. Stir in 1 ½ cups corn kernels, 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar, 1 cup light cream (or half and half). Heat to a simmer, remove from heat and serve with the reserved bacon crumbled on top.

            Had garden cleanup left me more energetic, corn bread would have been a good accompaniment to the chowder. But the garden took its toll, so we had some sourdough rye which I had baked the previous week. This is a heavy European rye, nicknamed ‘lead bread’ by our chidren for the texture, but it has it’s own story. The starter dough came from Germany to one of our colleagues, a physics professor at a university on the West coast.  He was willing to share it with me then and it has crossed the country with me a couple of times. Amazingly it still works today, occasionally supplemented with a pinch of dried yeast.

            Desert, cardamom apples, also came by serendipity. As we left the ‘appetizers course’ on Saturday from the Dutch Neck progressive dinner, our hostess Jane thrust a large bag of thick apple slices in my hand admonishing me to make something delicious with these healthy leftover snacks. With my apologies, the product unfortunately is more caloric (less healthy) than the starting material.

                                                            Cardamom apple desert

            Core and cut unpeeled good eating apples (not Granny Smith or MacIntosh) in thick slices or better in 1/8 wedges.  Heat 2 tablespoons unsalted butter in a large pan and before it starts to brown stir in 2-3 cups of the cut apples and fry turning once for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with ½ tsp. ground cardamom and 2 Tblsp. brown sugar. Continue to cook stirring until apples are barely tender. Stir in 2-3 Tblsp. cream and stir until apples are well coated with the cream. Serve warm or at room temperature sprinkled with nutmeg.

            Someday I will compile my favorite recipes for my grandchildren with the hope that they too will find a way to expand them and collect other food connections in their own community.

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)